


Marginalia

by theskipper



Series: The Basement [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Addams Family (1991)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Crossover, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 11:46:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7638973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskipper/pseuds/theskipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy likes Fleur and Angelina, but Hermione is his favorite sister-in-law.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marginalia

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to group these fics into a collection called The Basement in a nod to my other favorite case solving duo, Mulder & Scully.

Percy was engrossed in the latest test results Dr. Addams had given him on their case. He was busy cross referencing her notes against the pile of medical and anatomy books Hermione had helped him purchase recently from a second hand bookstore in Muggle London. Some might have been put off by the marginalia left behind by prior owners, but Percy often found the annotations helpful in understanding some of the more intricate details of the texts.

*

“Can’t Dr. Addams help you with translating the details,” Hermione asked as they perused the shelves.

“She writes the reports,” Percy said. He selected a book on clinical forensic medicine and turned to the table of contents to skim the contents. He still found it odd that the images in the photos didn't move like they did in the anatomy of magical beings books he'd purchased.

“Hmm.” Hermione selected two possible texts and added them to the rapidly growing stack they were evaluating.

“She’s taking the time to learn more about the wizarding world through the lens of history and law, which, as you know, can be a monumental task. So I’m making the effort to learn more about the muggle studies of medicine and forensics.”

Hermione unsuccessfully hid a small smile. “Yes, well, I think it’s wonderful that you’re both so committed to making this partnership work. It means a lot.” She sorted through some of the books they’d pulled off the shelf to take a look at, placing them in two piles. “You know, I’m fairly certain my parents have a copy of this,” she held up a rather weathered copy of a book on forensic odontology. “We’re having dinner at their place next weekend. I’ll take a look in the library, and see if they’d be willing to part with it.”

“That’s not necessary –“ Percy was cut off.

“Really, since they retired, they have been slowly downsizing. I’ll just take a look.”

Unlike Ron, Percy didn’t like to antagonize his sister-in-law so he simply dropped the subject and grabbed another book to review.

*

“Are you going to get that?” Dr. Addams called from her workroom. Their office space consisted of the main room, with Percy’s desk and the bookshelves holding their combined books and reference manuals, along with something called a whiteboard that Dr. Addams had insisted on having installed which they used to keep track of the various cases they were working. Through a doorway set against the back wall and down a short flight of stairs was her personal workroom. Dr. Addams had offered to clear some space for Percy, but he’d declined, instead claiming her desk from the front room and pushing it against his own to double his own workspace. It was a tad unconventional, something his brothers loved to tease him about, but it worked for them.

“Get what?” he called.

“The window. Something’s knocking.”

Percy carefully marked his stopping point and glanced up from his research to the lone window near the top of the room. Since they were in the lower levels of the building, they only had the one window, up near the ceiling of the room, and it was extremely small at that. Now that he was paying attention, Percy could hear the regular tapping indicating an owl.

He got up, twisting to stretch the tight muscles in his back, as he walked to the far wall and pulled the lever that ran up the wall and connected to the window. Once pulled, it opened the window, and the delivery owl swooped in dropping a package onto his desk before perching on the edge and looking at him expectantly.

“Alright, hold on,” Percy said and slipped through the doorway and down the stairs. “Do we have any mice?”

“Delivery?”

“A couple books. Did you order anything recently?” 

“No.” Dr. Addams stepped back from the oddly shaped glass cauldron that she called a beaker where she had been stirring something over a low flame and crossed to her storeroom. “I don’t have any mice right now, but this should do,” she said as she exited with a small dish containing a sliver of some kind of meat.

“Do I want to know?”

Her lips quirked in that way that always let Percy know she was amused. “I don’t know, do you?”

Percy glanced between the pinkish flesh in the dish and Dr. Addams before shaking his head. “Not today, I don’t think.” He climbed the stone steps back to the main office and set the dish down on the corner of his desk, as far away from his work as was polite. He’d had one too many parchments ruined by predatory owls taking a little too much glee in the mice Dr. Addams enjoyed feeding them in return for their services.

Percy cut the string on the books and unwrapped the plain brown wrapping paper. Inside were three books and a note from Hermione.

_Percy,_  
_I found both of these books in my parent’s library. They were more than happy to hear you were interested in learning more about anatomy and medicine and asked that you please keep them as they have no need for them any longer. I’ve also taken the liberty of including a book for Dr. Addams from my own personal collection. I read it between my first and second years at Hogwarts and found it invaluable in understanding more about the wizarding world._

_Best,  
Hermione_

Percy checked the titles, one book on human anatomy and a nicer copy of the forensic odontology text they’d seen at the used bookstore. The other book was a slightly worn copy of A Brief History of Wizarding Society and Law. He flipped it open, unsurprised to see passages underlined and comments in Hermione’s neat script littering the margins.

With a great flap of wings, the owl flew up and out of the window. Percy used the lever to close it behind him before collecting the now empty dish and book for Dr. Addams from his desk. It was incredibly thoughtful of Hermione to give the book to Dr. Addams. Not for the first time, he wondered if he’d be crossing any lines by asking Dr. Addams to join him and Hermione and Ron for a meal.


End file.
